Brilliant stem-cell biochemist, Aliesa Atworth, is the intended target when her lab is trashed and best friend and lab tech is murdered. Elliot Vance (Van), ex-DEA agent, suppresses the dead assistant's identity and takes Aliesa into protective custody.

Van is following a drug shipment when he sequesters Aliesa and believes she is part of a distribution network in the United States. He considers her a doctor with a broken moral compass, but their prolonged forced proximity makes him question himself. Aliesa's doing genetic engineering and using herself as a guinea pig to find a cure for cancer-the disease that killed her mother and grandmother. When henchmen kidnap and transport them to South America, Van's familial ties to the cartel and his personal war on drugs puts both of their lives in danger.

After a narrow escape, they return to Boston. When the public learns Aliesa is still alive, Van realizes this case has never been about cocaine-it's about her research. Her financial backer, a fortune-five-hundred pharmaceutical conglomerate, Panacealla, will lose millions if their current cancer drugs are rendered obsolete. A huge problem because Van's fallen for her and they must stop the CEO who has placed another contract on her head.